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Applied Education and School Health
Chapter 7: Applied Education Programs These programs are generally established devoted to vocational jobs, industrial arts, technical skills, and career education programs. This entire philosophy runs in the face of many in the educational field today. There is a philosophy in many schools that the goal for all students is to go to a four year school and get a college degree, but that truly is not for everyone. Vocational Education Programs began to emerge through much of the 20th century, and these programs run counter to a general "white collar" shift in American society. These programs may focus largely on vocational and trade education, but more traditional academic pursuits are also conducted in these programs as well. This is actually similar to one of the approaches to education that is taken in Germany. After the third grade, students take an apptitude test. Based on those results, the teachers, administrators, and parents collaborate to determine the best course of education for the student. Ultimately, there are three major paths students can be put into: Gymnasium, the highest level school which has a goal of putting students into college; Real Schule, which graduates students to work a variety of jobs and educational pursuits, but at a lower level than Gymnasium; and finally Hauptschule, which is relevant to this chapter because as students are enrolled in this, they are also receiving vocational training. Hauptschule has a class entitled "Introduction to the world of work", and many graduates will go on to attend full time trade school from there. All of that to say, there is a shift back in American edcation system refocusing on CTE courses and schools are having to determine a way to adjust curriculum and enrollment to cater to these pursuits. Chapter 8: Health and Human Servcies in Schools Over the decades, the federal government has invsted millions of dollars in resources pursuing health and human services, and with that, there is an acknowledgement that health goes far beyond physical health. Schools are tasked with helping with emotional, mental, and social health. The nurse is the most visible example of health services in schools, but social workers and school counselors give aide to other aspects of health as well. These professionals are responsible for multiple areas of health, perhaps the most controversial being that of sexual education and health. Many argue this aspect of health is exclusively for parents to provide, but simply put, many parent fall down on the job so it becomes a requirement for the school to help with. Another aspect of student health that is highly important is that of awareness of potential abuse. This is the responsibility of all educators to be aware of and looking out for as the signs may be missed and not evident to many. Nutrition falls into this category as well as it has a variety of facets that are important to education. Many students are on free and reduced lunch program, and it is a program that continues to grow. For some students, meals at school may be the only meals the eat during the week. Of course, we want to provide health meals for our students, but it is important to remember cultural and religious backgrounds in designing our menu.